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WANDERFOLK IN 
WONDERLAND 





















‘“Ha ! Ha ! Now we are making light of our troubles 1 ’ ” 



WANDERFOLK 
IN WO N D E R LAN D 
A Book of Animal Fable Stories 
Written by Edith Guerrier and 
Illustrated with Forty-two 
Drawings by Edith Brown 



Boston: Small, Maynard 
& Company: MDCCCCIII 


Copyright, igoy, by 
Small, Maynard Company 

{Incorporated) 

Entered at Stationers^ Hall 


UBRaKY ^yi CONGRESS 
Two Copies Received 



FEB 18 1904 



CLASS ^ XXc. No. 


CLASS ^ XXc. 




Published^ November^ igoj 


The University Press 
Cambridge, U. S. A. 



The Patient Walrus Page 3 

The Mouse-Butterfly 23 

The Travels of Wanderfoot 39 

Why the Kangaroo was Made 67 

The Discontented Prairie Dog 85 

Ai and the Three Armadillos 107 















THE PATIENT WALRUS AND 
THE HELPFUL MINK 


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V,. . .' ir /it/rjAfl.r r 


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THE PATIENT WALRUS AND 
THE HELPFUL MINK 

“ ^uiet persistence accomplishes more than bluster ” 


HE White Bears of Farth- 
est Northland were cer- 
tainly ill-tempered. In 
fact they were so ill-tem- 
pered that no one but a 
Walrus (in the days when 
Walruses were gentle as Doves) would 
have said a good word for them. All the 
Walrus said was, — 

“To have rheumatism in one’s paws 
is surely enough to make one a trifle ill- 
tempered.” 



3 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 



“ A trifle ! ” snapped the Mink, who 
was calling upon him. “A trifle ! the 
great fish-pawing things ! ” 

“Why fish-pawing.^” asked Walrus 
mildly. 


4 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 

“ Oh, don’t bother me ! ” said Mink, 
and seating herself on the edge of a 
crevasse, she gazed over the great, huddled 
masses of snow-covered ice that stretched 
away and melted into the gray twilight 
of the sky at every point but one; there, 
beneath the North Star, a band of black 
appeared to encircle a flat-topped mound 
of emerald-colored ice. 

Walrus scraped the crusted snow from 
a smooth ice block, and leaning against 
it, flapped his clumsy, black side with 
his left flipper, as he waited for Mink 
to speak. She was always putting on 
airs and he knew she would answer his 
question in time, so he contentedly 
flapped himself, till Mink said, “You 
make me think of the time my uncle 
spanked sister and me for laughing at the 
Polars.” 

Walrus continued to flap his flipper. 

S 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“ If you don’t stop flapping that flipper 
I shall not speak another word,” said 
Mink decidedly. 

Walrus flattened his flipper against his 
side, and Mink said, “ Piii-ttmaprimbr- 
tmhit.” 

“ Pardon me,” said Walrus politely, 
for he never forgot his manners, however 
surprised he might be. 

“ That ’s the text ! ” snapped Mink, 
“the thing 1 am going to speak about.” 

Walrus was quick witted, though he 
did not look it. “Ah, yes;” he said, 
“ it ’s something about ill-temper and 
rheumatism.” 

“ Certainly,” replied Mink, “ but sup- 
pose I were to address an audience, how 
would it sound, if before I began my 
speech I should say, ‘ Provided it is n’t 
ill-temper that makes a person rheumatic, 
it must be rheumatism that makes him 
6 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 

ill-tempered ? ’ People would be so con- 
fused they would be all the time thinking 
about the text itself instead of listening 
to the speech.” 

“Perhaps,” said Walrus. 

“ There is n’t any ‘ perhaps ’ about it ! 
As I was on the point of telling you, the 
Polars were having breakfast with us one 
morning, when we read the very funniest 
story in our South Wind Herald. It was 
about a Rabbit that hung its tail in the 
water for bait to catch fish, on a day so 
cold that the water froze. When the 
Rabbit jumped up, its tail remained in 
the ice. 

“We all laughed over the story, and 
old Chunk Polar said, ‘ Orter have used his 
feet in water that does n’t freeze.’ ‘ Use 
your wits, man,’ replied uncle, ‘fish are 
not going to bite at tails or feet for bait.’ 
‘ Don’t tell me ! don’t tell me ! ’ screamed 
7 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Chunk Polar, and he and Chunketta his 
wife went off in a rage. 

“ Next morning, while uncle, sister, 
and I were walking along shore by the 
Black Water that circles the Pole Ground 
Plain, whom should we see but the Polars 
sitting on the icy bank, their paws dang- 
ling in the Black Water. 

“ ‘They’ve been sitting there all night,’ 
whispered uncle, behind his paw. They 
did look so funny that sister and I 
screamed with laughter. At that the 
Polars arose from the bank, and made 
toward us. ‘They ’ve spoiled our fishing,’ 
growled Chunk, furiously, clawing at us. 
‘ They did n’t know any better,’ explained 
uncle, holding us by the hand-paws and 
backing olF. ‘ I ’ll hammer ’em ! ’ threat- 
ened Chunk Polar. ‘ Don’t trouble your- 
self, sir,’ replied uncle, ‘ I’ll do the 
hammering.’ 


8 



Don't trouble yourself .) sir, I'll do the hammering. 




THE PATIENT WALRUS 

“ So Chunk Polar and his wife went 
home, for they knew, and so did we, that 
uncle always kept his word,” said Mink, 
slowly rising. 

“That happened two years ago,” she 
added, “ and our bruises are healed, but 
the Polars have been lame ever since.” 

“Very good,” commented Walrus. 
“It is proved that they were ill-tempered 
from the first.” 

“From the first,” repeated Mink; “and 
now I must be going. I came to tell 
you that I have taken it upon myself to 
call a Council Meeting on the Sacred Pole 
Ground Plain, of every animal of Farthest 
Northland.” 

“All right. I’ll come,” said Walrus. 

“ I ’m going to address the meeting on 
the necessity of being good-tempered. 
When I have the sympathies of my audi- 
ence I shall fearlessly tell the Polars 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

that if they do not agree to be good- 
tempered in the future, we will banish 
them.” 

“They will not,” declared Walrus. 

“ Will not what } ” asked Mink. 

“Will not be good-tempered and will 
not be banished,” explained Walrus. 
“ They are bigger than all you small 
animals put together; they will batter 
you without mercy if you don’t deal 
gently with them.” 

“ I do not agree with you,” said Mink. 

Walrus said nothing. 

“ I do not agree with you,” said Mink 
a second time. 

Walrus said nothing. 

“ I do not agree with you,” said Mink 
a third time. 

“Well,” remarked the patient Walrus. 

“Why couldn’t you say so before.^” 
said Mink. 


12 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 

At that moment a growling was heard 
behind the block against which Walrus 
was leaning; and soon, white, shaggy- 
haired, fierce-eyed Chunk Polar appeared, 
limping painfully and growling at every 
step. Walrus looked at Mink, Mink 
looked into the crevasse. The patient 
Walrus respected Mink’s good intentions, 
and decided to help her. 

“A fine snowless day,” said he to 
Chunk Polar, indicating by sweeping mo- 
tions of both flippers the gray, mysterious 
twilight, that, excepting when snow falls, 
is ever the same for one hundred miles 
around and about the Pole Ground. 

Chunk Polar growled in reply, “ Pretty 
fair.” 

Seeing him in such a good humor, the 
Mink took courage and ventured, “We 
hope to see you at the Sacred Pole Ground 
Plain this afternoon.” 


13 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 



She fairly screamed the word “after- 
noon,” for at that moment the great, 
patient Walrus made a sudden and unex- 

14 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 

pected motion with his flipper, which sent 
Mink sprawling on the ice. 

“ Pardon ! pardon ! ” cried Walrus, set- 
ting her on her feetf “ I was astonished 
by your question. The Honorable Polars 
could never walk so far.” 

Chunk Polar tried to swallow his rage 
but it choked him. Seeing him speechless, 
Mink said, — 

“ Of course he could. One like the 
Honorable Chunk Polar knows how to 
make light of his troubles.” 

Again the great, patient Walrus waved 
his flipper, and again small Mink fell prone 
upon the ice. 

“ Pardon ! pardon ! ” cried Walrus, as 
he raised her a second time. “ I was 
astonished at the idea of a Polar making 
light of his troubles.” 

Chunk Polar was so angry because he 
could n’t be sufficiently angry, that he 
*5 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


hobbled away, merely mumbling, “ I ’ll 
show ’em ! I ’ll teach ’em ! ” 

Mink gazed ruefully after him, then 
glared at Walrus. 

“ Come,” said the latter, “ it ’s time to 
go to the meeting.” 

“ A fine meeting we ’ll have,” grumbled 
Mink. “The Polars will never come, and 
all on account of you — you — you — 
Walrus ! ” 

Walrus said • nothing, because he was 
patient; Mink said nothing, because she 
was not; and so in due time they arrived 
at the narrow band of Black Water that 
forms a complete circle about the Sacred 
Pole Ground Plain. 

From the steep inner bank of the Black 
Water to the flat-topped mound of emerald- 
colored ice the plain extends, a floor of 
frozen dreams, smoother and harder than 
anything else in the world. Walrus and 

i6 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 

Mink hastened toward the southern part 
of the plain, where were gathered as many 
as one hundred animals, seated on square 
cakes of common ice. 

Mink being speaker mounted a high, 
broad block, facing all the animals. Walrus 
took a back cake. 

“ I ’m sorry to see the Polars are not 
present,” began Mink. 

“They ’re coming,” screamed a Penguin. 

Sure enough they were. Soon they 
came, puffing and panting, to a double cake 
behind the patient W alrus. They chose that 
cake because they wished to taunt the Wal- 
rus, and because it was the only one left. 

“Tell us we cannot get here!” thus 
Chunk. 

“Tell us we cannot make light of our 
troubles ! ” thus Chunketta ; and both 
sayings proved that Walrus knew what 
he was talking about. 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“ Better keep still, Polars, and not 
shuffle your feet,” said Walrus so loudly 
that every one turned and stared at the 
Polars. 

The Polars stared back, and to show 
how little they cared for public opinion, 
they arose and began to dance on their 
poor lame feet. The more they danced 
the warmer their feet became, and the less 
they felt their rheumatism. 

“ Don’t go too near the Sacred Pole 
Ground ! ” shouted Walrus. Whereupon, 
to show what they thought of him, the 
Polars joined forepaws, gave a mighty 
leap and danced UPON the emerald sur- 
face of the Sacred Pole Ground ; of 
course, because all the Pole Ground is 
a magnet, they could n’t leave it. Every 
time they tried to get down, the Pole 
Ground drew them back, klumperty blump ; 
while from the emerald ice flew crackling 

i8 


THE PATIENT WALRUS 
flames, red, blue, and yellow, leaping so 
high, that far down in Greenland and afar 
off in Iceland, people heard the snapping 
sparks, and saw the many-colored streamers 
dance above the horizon, and named them 
“ Northern Lights.” 

The Council was terror stricken. “ Come 
down ! ” it cried to the Polars. 

“ Come down ! ” mocked the Polars. 
“ Indeed we shall not.” 

Indeed they should not, for they could 
not, but they did not intend the other 
animals to know that. 

“Ha! ha!” they roared proudly, as 
they pounded the wonderful lights from 
the Pole Ground. “Now we are making 
light of our troubles ! ” 

“ Don’t you want to come down ? ” 
asked Walrus who was a bit of a magician. 

“ Don’t you want to come up ? ” said 
the ill-bred Polars. “ No, thank you, 

19 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


sir, we don’t want to come down. We 
should like nothing better than to dance 
here forever.” 

Walrus with one claw traced an original 
polygram about the Pole Ground, then 
flapped his flipper three times. 

“Granted,” he said. 

At that the whole assembly hurrahed, 
but Mink called it to order, and pointing 
out that they were now delivered from the 
ill-tempered Polars, she ended her speech 
in fine style. 



20 


THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 




THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 


“Z)(? not complain of your place in life, but make 
the best of it" 


WEE Harvest Mouse 
was swinging in his 
grass cradle. His 
mother was in a corn- 
field not far distant, 
nibbling juicy shoots, 
and thinking about her child’s prospects. 

Wee Mouse was also thinking about his 
prospects. While he thought, a Butterfly, 
with sun-bright colors in her wings, danced 
over the swinging nest. As the Butterfly 
2-3 



WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

floated and poised among the grasses she 
sang : 

“ Life of a sunbeam’s heart, 

Spark of the Rhinegold ring, 
Spell of a summer dream. 

Gleam in my shining wing,” 

and the Wee Mouse’s mother, hearing as 
she returned from the 
cornfield, asked the 
Wee One what he 
thought of it. 

“ Mother,” he said, 
“a Butterfly is the 
most beautiful thing in 
the world. I am going 
to be one ! ” 

Mother Mouse 
almost fell from the 
nest, so great were her astonishment and 
horror. 



24 



THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

“Alas, child!” said she, “what an idea 
is this! Only yesterday the Meadow- 
Mole taught you that 
‘ one cannot make a 
safe nest out of a soft 
fern ’ ! ” 

“ I do not see what 
that has to do with 
this,” said Wee 
Mouse, “excepting 
that ferns are soft, 
beautiful things, 
moving like Butter- 
flies in the wind and 
sunshine.” 

“That’s what they 
are meant to do,” replied Mother Mouse. 
“ If you tried to make a nest out of 
them, they would become draggled and 
broken, and the nest would be of no 
use.” 



^5 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Wee Mouse thought a moment, then 
cried, “ I Ve said I ’m going to be one ; 
therefore, be one I will,” so he tumbled 
out of the nest and off he went. 

As for his mother, she mumbled a few 
words about experience, and returned to 
the cornfield. 

Wee Mouse ran till he came to a 
milkweed, and then stopped because the 
milkweed was covered with Butterflies. 

“Sweet sprites, I beg of you, tell me 
how your wings grow } ” he prayed. 

The Butterflies were busy gathering 
honey, besides they knew not how their 
wings were formed, so they answered simply, 
“We cannot tell.” 

Wee Mouse continued repeating his 
prayer, for he thought they meant that they 
would not tell. After a time he became 
angry, and making his tail quite rigid said 
proudly, “ I can find out without your aid.” 

26 


THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

Then he backed under a plantain leaf 
to think, keeping his face, with an ugly 
scowl upon it, toward the Butterflies, till 
a sad groaning was heard in the darkness 
beneath the leaf 

Thus he was forced to turn, and found 
that with his tail he had nearly put out 
the eye of an extremely plain-looking 
black Spider. 

Said the Spider, “ Perhaps such a pretty 
little thing as you, can afford to lose 
something, but as for me, I must keep all 
the looks I have.” 

“I beg your pardon,” said Wee 
Mouse, withdrawing hastily. 

“So long as you are sorry, it’s all 
right,” said the Spider. “Come in,” and 
she politely made room for him. 

Wee Mouse wanted to know if the 
Spider really thought him pretty, so he 
said, “As you were saying — ” 

^7 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“ I finished what I had to say,” replied 
the Spider. “Sympathy always makes 
one feel better; therefore, I said, ‘If you 
are sorry, it is all right.’” 

“ Perhaps it was before that,” he said. 

“No,” replied Spider, “I said all I 
had to say before that about your looks 
and my looks.” 

So, after all. Wee Mouse was obliged 
to say plainly what he meant. 

“ Do you like my looks } ” 

“ I do,” answered the Spider. 

“ I don’t,” declared Wee Mouse. “I’ve 
determined to be a Butterfly.” 

The Spider was quite taken aback and 
blurted out, “You will make the finest kind 
of a Mouse, but a sad Butterfly you’ll be.” 

Wee Mouse scrambled from beneath 
the leaf “Thank you for your hospital- 
ity,” said he, “but in order to think, I 
must be alone.” 


28 


THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

Then he ran and ran till he came to a 
lonesome place in a forest, on the high 
bank of a broad river. 

“ Here no one will disturb me,” he 
began, thinking aloud. 

“ Who is this that dares come before 
my Becomers.^” interrupted a small but 
determined voice. 

Wee Mouse looked about, but seeing 
no one remained silent. 

“Who are you, I say.^” repeated the 
voice. “Fold fore-paws behind you and 
tell the truth.” 

Again Wee Mouse looked but could 
see no one. 

“You’ll have to do all I say before 
you see me,” continued the voice. “Now 
fold fore-paws behind you, tell the truth, 
and toe the mark.” 

Wee Mouse seeing the mark in front 
of him, placed toes upon it, folded fore- 
29 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

paws behind his back, and truthfully said, 
“I am Wee Mouse.” 

“Look behind you,” said the voice, 
“but don’t turn your head.” 

“Whoever heard of a person’s looking 
behind him without turning his head } ” 
thought Wee Mouse, and he remained 
motionless. 

“Do you give up.^” said the voice. 

“No,” cried Wee Mouse. There- 
upon, bending his head without turning 
it, he looked between his legs and saw a 
great flabby Toad in the same ridiculous 
position looking at him. 

“Now,” said the great flabby Toad, 
“ having seen yourself as others see you, 
the conceit must be out of you, so we 
can talk sense. Stand up, and I ’ll take 
you to see the Becomers.” 

Wee Mouse quickly obeyed, and the 
Toad having led him five steps north, 

30 


THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

five steps east, five steps south, and five 
steps west, cried, “We’re there; come 
forward, Becomers ! ” 

From behind the tree trunks came a 
Rabbit, who was becoming a jerky jumper; 
a Woodchuck, who was becoming a handy 
holer; a Snake who was becoming a twin- 
ing twister. 

“There were many more,” explained 
the Toad, “but they’ve all become what 
they should be; it’s now late in the 
season.” 

Wee Mouse hugged his tail for joy. 
“I have run to the very place where I 
shall learn to fly,” he said. 

The Toad looked at him curiously, 
saying, “The sun seems to have affected 
your head. You wish to become a 
gnawer, I think.” 

“No, indeed,” replied Wee Mouse. 
“I wish to become a Butterfly.” 

31 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 



“ I was never contradicted before,” 
said the Toad. “ Therefore to cut the 
matter short, and to punish you as you 
deserve, you shall become a Butter- 
fly. Not being a Caterpillar to begin 
with — ” 


3 ^ 



THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

“ Ugh, nasty things ! ” shuddered Wee 
Mouse. 

“ You cannot be a Caterpillar Butterfly,” 
went on the Toad, “but will have to be 
a Mouse-Butterfly.” 

Wee Mouse remembered what the 
Spider had said about his good looks, and 
thought himself about to become a most 
lovely creature. 

“If,” said he, “such an odious worm 
as a Caterpillar makes a fine Butterfly, 
what a wonderful Butterfly shall I be!” 

“All Becomers follow directions pre- 
cisely,” said the Toad. 

“ I will,” promised Wee Mouse. 

The Toad then instructed him how to 
begin, and at the end of five days all was over. 

The first day he ate India rubber, which 
made his skin elastic. 

The second day he ate feathers, which 
made him light. 


3 


33 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

The third day he ate sand which gave 
him courage for the fourth day, when all 
the other Becomers stretched and pulled, 
and pulled and stretched his sides till the 
skin of them stood out like great sails. 

But with all the rubber, feathers, sand, 
and wings, he could not fly. 

The fifth day the animals with great 
labor dragged him to the very edge of 
the river bank, which was forty feet high. 

Here they hung him head down, di- 
rectly over the water. 

Said the Toad, “When he looks into 
the water and sees himself, I can assure 
you he will let go his hold; then he must 
fly or drown, and he will fly.” 

All happened as predicted. The un- 
fortunate Wee Mouse on looking into the 
water and seeing himself, let go his hold. 
When he found himself falling, falling, 
he spread his skinny wings and away he 
34 


THE MOUSE-BUTTERFLY 

went^ across the wide river, then back 
again to the Toad, crying in disgust, 
“Do you call this becoming a Butter- 
fly?” 

“A Mouse-Butterfly,” corrected the 
Toad. “Did not the Spider tell you, 
you would make a fine Mouse but a 
poor Butterfly ? ” 

The Toad, as you may have heard, 
has a wonderful jewel in his head, which 
reflects the things that have happened and 
are going to happen to any one whose 
head-shadow falls on it, and Wee Mouse’s 
head-shadow fell on this Toad’s jewel, 
when he looked behind him without turn- 
ing his head. 

“I know, I know what it means now,” 
wailed Mouse- Butterfly. 

The look on the Toad’s face was stern 
and relentless, and the Mouse-Butterfly, 
knowing that what he had become he 

35 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

would have to remain, beat himself against 
trees and everything that came in his 
way, making such a bat of himself, that 
the animals voted “Bat” should be his 
name. 

Then he hung himself head down for 
shame, from the limb of a tree, crying, 
“Thus will I hang by dayj by night 
only will I fly.” 

And thus he did. 



3 ^ 


THE TRAVELS o/WANDERFOOT 























THE TRAVELS 0/ WANDERFOOT 

“ ‘ L,earn what you can at home before travelling in 
search of new things ’ ” 

N the hollow of a live oak 
tree dwelt Mother Squirrel 
and her one son, Wanderfoot. 

“Great things this son of 
mine will do ! ” the mother 
was wont to say, as she 
young one playing with the 
shining leaves of his Home Tree. “Great 
things indeed! my soft, gray-coated dar- 
ling, with eyes bright as the Glow Worm’s 
light ! ” 

Sometimes she sighed, because little 
Wanderfoot was all for travelling to see 
39 





WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

the world, but she would console herself 
by saying, “ Some day I will take him 
to Its Reverence. It will not approve 
of travel, and no one dares scorn Its 
advice.” 

Then she would call Wanderfoot to 
her and see his lessons, for since she was 
not bothered by a lot of young ones, 
as was the case with poor scraggy-tailed 
Mehitable Woodchuck, at the foot of the 
tree, she gave nearly all her time to her 
son’s education. 

When she saw that he knew how to 
hunch himself, how to bite off the top 
of a nut, how to balance, and how to sail 
in the air when he lost his balance, she 
said, “ Now we will comb our tails for a 
visit to Its Reverence.” 

Wanderfoot, in spite of all his mother’s 
training, was spoiled. Instead of at once 
combing his tail he let it hang quite limp, 
40 


THE TRAVELS of WANDERFOOT 

in a most unbecoming fashion, and said, 
“Who is Its Reverence?” 

At this question, his mother gave fright- 
ened glances to North, South, East, and 
West, to the sky and to the earth, for 
Its Reverence had the power of being 
invisible and of being visible whenever 
It wished to be, and at any moment one 
might see It at one’s elbow, or It might 
be there and one might not see It. 

“Far be it from me to say who It 
is, or to speak of the time and place It 
may be seen,” whispered Squirrel Mother 
in such an odd manner that Squirrel Son 
combed his tail and perked his ears in 
haste, and was ready as soon as his mother. 

Then they set off in the late afternoon, 
skipping from bough to bough, — now 
high, where cool green shadows hid them, 
now low, through the yellow light of the 
setting sun. 


41 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Squirrel Son was enjoying the journey 
so greatly that he had forgotten whither 
they were bound, when suddenly they 
came to an opening in the forest, where 
long grass grew about a still clear pool. 

On the far margin of the pool stood 
one giant ash tree. Through the long 
grass to the foot of the ash tree ran 
Squirrel Mother, and Squirrel Son ran 
after her, reaching the tree just as a 
hedgehog raced round the pool crying; 

“ Sunlight pale. 

Ere thou fail. 

For one minute 
Be It in it. 

Then let night 
Have Its sight.” 

As the charm began. Squirrel Mother 
fell to earth and pulled Squirrel Son 
down beside her, mumbling, “ My Son, 
42 


THE TRAVELS e/^WANDERFOOT 

Reverence, Reverence, my Son, my Son, 
Reverence. Reverence, my Son,” thus 
she might have gone on for the whole 
of the minute, if Its Reverence had cared 
to hear her, which It did not, so It said: 

“Time to rise.” 

Then they arose and stood face to face 
with a Shape, having plumage the color 
of poke berries, a bright purple beak, 
and for eyes, nothing but white mist. 

“What’s wanted.^” asked It, and Its 
voice sounded as if It inside the Shape 
was all mist, as It truly was. 

“ My Son is to do great things,” stam- 
mered trembling Squirrel Mother, “ and 
I hoped you would teach him the way 
to begin — because — ” 

“ Because,” broke in Squirrel Son, “ I 
ought to travel and see things, but I 
don’t know where to travel and you are 
to tell me.” 


43 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“That’s not — ” began the Mother, 
but It raised one claw ever so little, and 
she was silent, while It said: 

“In the day I am in Shape or out of 
Shape, as I please j and whether I’m in 
Shape or out of Shape, you see me, or 
you don’t see me, as I please. There- 
fore I see many things.” 

“ Fifteen seconds,” called the Hedgehog. 
“ I must be brief,” said It hurriedly. 
Its voice growing more misty every second. 
“ Did you ever hear of the animals who 
travelled East and West } ” 

“No,” said both Squirrels. 

“The beginning is, ‘It’s good to 
travel East and West — ’ ” 

“ Time,” called the Hedgehog. 

Again Squirrel Mother fell to earth 
and pulled Squirrel Son down beside her, 
for none live to look again who look 
once on the going out of It. 

44 


So It said: ‘ Time to rise 






THE TRAVELS o/WANDERFOOT 

“ One, two,” the Hedgehog began, 
and he counted and counted to one hun- 
dred. Then the Squirrels arose. Not 
a creature was visible. The pool was 
shrouded in mist. 

Though she had seen It many times, 
in Shape and out of Shape, Squirrel 
Mother shook with fear. Though he 
had seen It in Shape but once. Squirrel 
Son was undaunted. 

“ I ’d like to know what else It was 
going to say,” said he, “ but as I can’t 
know before to-morrow night, and since 
I know in what directions I’m to travel, 
I may as well set out.” 

His mother looked at him sadly, but 
he said to himself : “ She will not miss 
me after to-morrow morning and perhaps 
she will not miss me then if I sing the 
morning song,” so he sang. 


47 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“ Run, merry woodfolk, up and run, 
Animals’ day has just begun. 

Do what your clan ne’er did before. 
Search the whole world for woodfolks’ 
lore — ” 

“ That is not correct,” cried distracted 
Squirrel Mother, and she sang : 

“ Wake, merry woodfolk, mind the word. 
Given each morn by wakening Bird. 

Do what your clan has always done. 
Learn of Home Woods, every Wood- 
land son.” 

“ My song was certainly more sensi- 
ble,” said Wanderfoot. Then he kissed 
his mother and ran off eastward through 
the dark, creepy woods, saying with self- 
importance, “ It will not take me long at 
this rate to reach the place where the sun 
rises.” 


48 


THE TRAVELS ^WANDERFOOT 



“ W mderfoot ran against a tree trunk ” 

“ That it will not,” creaked a voice in 
the sky, with such an awful creak that 
Wanderfoot, filled with terror, ran against 
49 


4 



WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

a tree trunk. Then a sharp something 
seized him by the top of the head and 
the next instant he found himself inside 
a hollow tree, with a pile of nuts in one 
corner, while his cousin. Chipmunk, was 
scolding like rattling pebbles at two stars 
before the door of his cell. 

“They are Owl’s eyes,” explained Chip 
to Wanderfoot. “ His head is too big to 
go through the door.” 

Soon the stars disappeared, and as they 
sat comfortably over the pile of nuts, 
Wanderfoot told Chip all that had hap- 
pened that day. Then they both fell asleep 
and slept till awakened by the Call-Bird. 

After eating some nuts, Wanderfoot 
kissed Chip and ran off toward the East, 
crying joyously, “Ah, how like the wind 
I run ! I will keep up this pace till mid- 
day ; by that time I may be where I can 
see something worth seeing.” 

50 


THE TRAVELS ^/WANDERFOOT 

Long before midday his wits had be- 
come so jumbled by the rate at which he 
travelled that he could n’t recall his own 
name. This frightened him to such an 
extent that he stopped to think. “For 
if I don’t know my own name, nobody 
else will know it,” he said. 

When he was rested, the name came 
back to him, and as he was crying 
“ Wanderfoot ! ” many times, so that he 
should not again forget, he saw beneath 
him a cosey nest of yawning young robins, 
whose mother was softly singing to them, 
and her song was something like this : 

Some beasties journey evermore 5 

Strange nests or holes they seek each 
day 5 

But, would you know true woodland lore. 
Your Home- Wood laws you must 
obey.” 


51 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“ Little you know about the thing to do,” 
said Wanderfoot quite rudely to the Robin. 

“True, O great Tail-bearer!” replied 
the Robin, with head on one side. “And 
hast thou cracked the nut that holds that 
knowledge ? ” 

“ I am on my way to do it,” said 
Wanderfoot, loftily, and off he went, 
springing from oak to chestnut, from 
chestnut to hickory, from hickory to 
beech, naming the trees as he flew from 
one to another, and naming himself also. 

At midday he dropped into a clearing 
where there was a wheat-field, with little 
grains still very small and green and out 
of reach, but with stems right sweet and 
tender. 

“Very fair for a luncheon,” said 
Wanderfoot, seizing a juicy shoot and 
happily munching and thinking of the 
great things he was soon to do. 

52- 


THE TRAVELS e/^WANDERFOOT 

Suddenly he started, for directly over 
his head a voice began to sing : 

“ When the known laws you have learned, 

Woodland favor you have earned. 

Then the unknown seek to find. 

Give some new truth to your kind.” 

“ The Mouse who invented swinging 
nests made that, but first, O my pink- 
nosed Mouselings ! he knew how to make 
the beautifullest ground nests ever seen,” 
said the voice. 

By this time Wanderfoot had dis- 
covered a swinging nest in the waving 
stems above him. Seeing no one he 
addressed the nest: 

“ It ’s a new law I am on my way to 
find. I know all the laws of my own 
woods.” 

The smooth head of a Harvest Mouse 
appeared over the top of the nest. 

S3 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“Do you indeed?” she said. “You 
don’t look as though you did, if you will 
pardon me for saying so.” 

“ I will see first whether you speak the 
truth,” said Wanderfoot. “ Pray direct 
me to the nearest water.” 

The Mouse did so, and off scampered 
Wanderfoot. 

When he looked into the water he saw 
a sad sight. His bright eyes were dull 
with weariness, his whiskers limp from 
lack of nuts, his tail shockingly untidy, 
and his claws blunted to such a degree 
that he nearly lost hold of the bank. 

“ There is no need for me to return 
to the Mouse,” said he. “ She knows 
that she spoke the truth, and therefore 
she knows she is pardoned ; but I will 
not listen to what folk say henceforth.” 

Being a beast of his word, he did not, 
but went on and on, day after day, trav- 
54 


THE TRAVELS ./WANDERFOOT 

elling East till he should see something 
worth seeing. Then he intended travel- 
ling West. 

Sometimes he passed through big towns 
of the Human Folk, but oftener he jour- 
neyed alone through the beautiful woodland. 

One cloudy morning, at that time of 
year when leaves are painted red and 
yellow, Wanderfoot said to himself while 
half asleep on the branch of a tall, dark 
hemlock tree, “ I am so chilled and 
cramped I ’ll take a few eastward jumps 
before seeking breakfast.” 

“ Hush ! hush ! hush ! ” commanded a 
great, soft, awful voice ; and it kept on 
saying “ Hush ! ” so threateningly that 
poor Wanderfoot shut his eyes and dared 
move neither hand nor foot from the 
branch of his hemlock tree, awaiting 
he knew not what. The long moments 
dragged on, while the awful voice ceased 

55 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

not to cry “ Hush ! ” but nothing hap- 
pened. At last Wanderfoot even ceased 
to fear so intensely, and opening his eyes 
cried, “ I must jump or die ! ” 

Then he looked eastward for his next 
foothold. But foothold there was none. 
The tall, dark hemlock tree stood on the 
very rim of the ocean, and the voice was 
the voice of the waves speaking to the 
pebbly shore. 

“ Oh ! oh ! oh ! ” cried the fearful little 
mite of a Squirrel, looking over the great, 
gray, tumbling water. “ I ’m at the end 
of the world, and there ’s no place to 
jump upon.” Then, as a long wave ran 
toward his tree, he screamed, “The great 
water is eating the end of the world, but 
it shall not eat me ! ” and westward, west- 
ward he ran for his life. 

When quite out of sound of the fear- 
some, unceasing voice, he crouched in 


THE TRAVELS (9/WANDERFOOT 

a deserted crow’s nest, his scrawny tail 
pressed against his aching back, while a 
misty wind made the painted leaves dance 
about him till he grew giddy, and re- 
membered that he had eaten no breakfast. 

Down to the ground he wearily went, 
and after a tiresome search found a few 
checkerberries. As he was eating, forth 
from the wet bushes marched a very 
old Partridge, followed by ten half-grown 
birds. 

The Old Partridge took her stand upon 
a stone directly in front of Wanderfoot, 
but, as she stood with her back toward 
him, she did not see him. The ten 
Young Birds formed a circle about her, 
but they did not notice Wanderfoot, as 
all eyes were upon the Old Partridge. 

Said the Old Bird, “We will sing the 
‘ Home Song of Wander Birds,’ by 
Myself” 


57 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Wanderfoot wished to carry away a 
supply of the beautiful fragrant berries, 
and any voice was good after that of the 
lead-colored water, so though he had said 
he would listen to no more songs, he 
remained where he was, and as he busily 
packed his cheeks, looked at the singer 
and listened with all his ears. 

First the Old Partridge raised her right 
claw and the ten Young Birds sang : 

“ In silly youth. 

She journeyed far. 

To find more things 

Than things there are.” 

The Old Partridge lowered her claw 
and sang alone in an old, cracked voice : 

“ But in my quest, 

I had no rest. 

My sight ’gan fail, 

I lost my tail, 

S8 



‘The Old Partridge raised her right claw and the Young Birds sang 






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THE TRAVELS ^/WANDERFOOT 

My legs fell weak, 

I dulled my beak, 

Yet every mile 
Was worth its while.” 

Up went the claw and the ten Young 
Birds sang: I 

For well she learned 
That every good 
Is found for youth 
In Native Wood.” 

As Wanderfoot listened to this song 
his hair stood on end for happiness, and 
with well-filled cheeks he backed into the 
bushes, saying softly to himself, “ Some 
young things understand Home Songs 
from the beginning; but others, like the 
cracked-voiced Partridge and me, have to 
go to the end of the world to know what 
they mean.” 

6i 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


Then stretching his stiff, tired legs, he 
continued his journey. Westward, ever 
westward now he travelled ; westward, 
ever westward, while the red and yellow 
leaves danced themselves thin and brown, 
and all animals were silent. 

One day the half-frozen little beastie 
had only wintergreen leaves for food and 
he could get no water. The water of 
all brooks seemed turned to land, “ That 
is, I suppose it ’s land,” sighed Wander- 
foot, “ though it has the same feeling I 
have,” for he was icy cold, and so stiff 
that he mournfully cried, “ Perhaps I 
shall turn to such land,” then off he 
went as fast as his stiff legs would allow. 

In the afternoon the air was filled 
with a cold, white cloud dust, and as 
he stumbled along the black branches of 
the damp, leafless trees, he talked to him- 
self, not knowing what he was saying, 
62 


THE TRAVELS ^WANDERFOOT 

nor why he cried, “The end of the 
world is turning me to land, then it will 
eat me too ! too ! too ! ” 

The last “ too ” was faint as the echo 
of a sigh. With its utterance he tumbled 
into a hole where all was furry and warm, 
and he heard his own Mother say: 

“’Tis time we beasts should sleep. 
Your wisdom you must keep.” 

Then the weary Wanderfoot cuddled 
against his Mother’s soft coat, deep in 
the still hollow of the old oak. 

Outside, North Wind whistled down 
the night. On the marge of the pool 
stood the Shape, and It went forth a 
frosty cloud, hiding the pool, creeping 
through the wind-swept forest. 

A waft of It trailed into the heart 
of the oak, and into the dreamland of 

63 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


Wanderfoot’s sleep floated the council 
of It — the whole of the council. 

“ It’s good to travel East and West, 
But after all a home is best 5 

best till you know the best of it, and are 
trained for what ’s beyond.” 

Then all was still, the mist trailed out, 
and happily slept the Squirrel in the 
sheltering oak. 



64 



WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 




WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 


“ You cannot get another to do the work intended 
for yourself " 

F one only had a servant 
to browse for one this hot 
weather ! ” sighed the lazy 
Fawn. 

“To scratch and gnaw 
for one!” growled the dis- 
contented Rat. 

“To wear one’s hot fur and to burrow 
for one ! ” drawled the sleepy Rabbit. 

“To hop for one!” shrilled the im- 
itative Grasshopper, who could think of 
nothing else to say. 



WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 



“ ‘ To wear ones hot fur and to burrow for one !' ” 


The Blind Mole, satisfied with his con- 
dition in life, whispered, “ I prefer to 
mole for myself ; ” but he whispered so 
low that no one heard him, and directly 
he fell asleep. 

The others also slept, even till the sun 
had burned itself out for the day. 

68 



WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 

Fawn being first to wake, touched Rab- 
bit and said, It’s time some one was made.” 

“Yes, yes,” answered Rabbit, one- 
fourth awake ; and scratching the Rat, he 
repeated, “ It ’s time some one was made.” 

Rat, one-half awake, poked Grass- 
hopper and said the same thing. 

Grasshopper, three-fourths awake, 
hopped upon the Mole’s back and gave 
the sentence to him. 

Though the Mole was wide awake, 
there was no one to whom he could 
speak. Probably if there had been some 
one he would have said nothing; he was 
such a slow-witted fellow. 

Fawn waited till all were wide awake, 
then remarked: “To put a question to 
you : If we animals had not been made, 
we could not be, — could we } ” 

“ Don’t try to answer,” she said, after 
a moment or two. “It’s too deep for 
69 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


you. Therefore, to put another question : 
There ’s reason to suppose that if we 
animals were made, others can be made.” 

“ That ’s not a question,” said Rat ; 
“ it ’s a statement, but it sounds sensible.” 

“ Suppose we find out if it is sen- 
sible,” suggested Fawn. “I thought it 
out while you were asleep.” 

Here Rat, who was no respecter of 
persons, coughed. 

“ While you were asleep,” repeated 
Fawn. I did n’t say I wasn’t asleep 
also; one sometimes has wonderful 
thoughts while one is sleeping.” 

Judging by what was not said that the 
others agreed with her. Fawn declared, 
“We will prove the thing! Follow 
me ! ” 

Then the others fell into line. Grass- 
hopper leading Blind Mole, and followed 
to the River of the Magic Mud. 

70 


WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 



“ The Others followed to the River of the Magic Mud " 


From the river bank Fawn dug a large 
piece of clay, and cleverly moulded it 
into a jar about five feet in height. In 
shape, it was as much like a sweet potato 
as anything. 

She regarded the work with satisfaction, 
saying, “ It is quite hollow.” 

“ Quite ! ” echoed the ready Rabbit. 

71 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“One might think I had been in the 
business all my life,” commented Fawn, 
“ yet this is my first attempt.” 

Sly Rat thrust his tongue into his 
cheek and winked at Grasshopper, but 
said nothing. 

“Now, old Mole,” ordered Fawn, 
“ take some clay and make a head like 
mine for that shape.” 

“ I cannot see,” murmured Blind Mole. 

Fawn, who had received a fair educa- 
tion, wept over the ignorant state of 
Blind Mole, and said, when her tears 
allowed, “ Nowadays the artists do not 
make things as they see things, but as 
they feel things.” 

Fawn then commanded Rat to place 
a lump of clay before Blind Mole, and 
straightway posed for the head. 

When the head was formed Rat posed 
for the fore legs, and Grasshopper for the 
72 - 


WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 

hind legs. Next, Rabbit gave some hairs 
from his coat to be planted upon the 
Thing. As for a tail, Mole invented 
one, and then stepped modestly aside. 

Now these six pieces lay upon the 
ground — one head, one tail, two fore 
legs, two hind legs. 

First, Fawn raised the head and fitted 
it neatly to the top of the jar. After 
that, she made five holes in proper places, 
for the legs and tail, which she inserted 
with admirable skill. 

In the meanwhile. Rabbit, Rat, and 
Grasshopper were looking on, well-nigh 
breathless from astonishment and expec- 
tation. 

When the Thing was completed to 
her satisfaction. Fawn backed a few steps, 
stood as erect as possible, raised her eyes 
to the moon, and said : 


73 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“Night past, 

Lie fast; 

Beam bright, 

Life light; 

Eyes show; 

Hair grow ; 

Mouth eat; 

Day greet” 

At that moment the last moonbeam 
ran into daylight The Thing gave a 
sigh, its eyes opened, its hair began to 
grow, its forefeet began to scratch, its 
hind feet began to hop, and its mouth 
began to eat 

Fawn laughed for pure joy at the 
success of the undertaking, but the other 
animals, that is, the three who could 
see, fell face down upon the earth and 
“ Kang ! ” cried the fear-stricken Rat 

“ Gar ! ” shrieked the trembling Rabbit 

74 


WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 



“ "The Thing completed^ Fawn backed a few steps" 


“ Roo ! ” shrilled the quivering Grass- 
hopper. 

“ Oo ! ” echoed the unseeing but feel- 
ing Mole. 

“ Good ! ” commented Fawn, “ you 
have named the Thing, Kangaroo.” 

75 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Hearing Fawn’s cheerful voice the three 
arose, and Rat, who was the first to re- 
cover self-possession, said, “We thought 
that would be a good name.” 

“ I could not have chosen a better one 
myself,” said Fawn. “ Now let us to 
the wood ere the sun’s fire burn us, and 
follow ! you. Kangaroo ! ” she added, in 
the tone of voice such creatures use 
toward inferiors. 

The Kangaroo did not seem to resent 
the tone. 

“ Why should he } ” said Grasshopper 
to Mole, who mildly objected to Fawn’s 
manner. 

“ Be what may,” was Blind Mole’s 
answer, “ I shall mole for myself” 

“ Mole ahead. Old Stupid ! ” said 
Fawn, as she entered the wood and 
lay down in the shade. “Now browse, 
Kangaroo ! ” 


76 


WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 

Thereupon the Kangaroo browsed and 
browsed beyond the wildest expectations. 

Tons of hay seemed required to fill 
its hollow inside. 

“ Gnaw and scratch ! ” ordered Rat. 

And the Kangaroo gnawed the very 
toughest stems, such as blueberry bush and 
sassafras, and then scratched up the roots. 

“Hop ! ” ordered Grasshopper, and 
hippity hop went the great, awkward, 
amiable Kangaroo in search of more grass, 
blueberry bushes, and sassafras. 

Rabbit thought he had the finest ser- 
vice, for Kangaroo wore his hot fur, 
whether anything was said or not. 

All this time Mole was moling. 

As the sun rose higher. Mole ceased 
moling and composed himself to sleep. 

Grasshopper looked at him enviously. 
“ It seems that to have the benefit of 
hopping, one must hop for oneself,” he 
77 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

said, sadly regarding his legs, which were 
twitching from having remained still so 
long. 

“ It ’s the same with gnawing and 
scratching,” sighed Rat, “ my claws are 
limp and my jaws ache.” 

Here Rabbit stretched himself and said 
to Rat and Grasshopper, “ My fur coat 
weighs on me now, as it did formerly; 
and the Thing — the Kangaroo — is be- 
ginning to wear a look of intelligence, 
while we look fairly senseless sitting here 
with open mouths, twitching legs, aching 
jaws, and unaired coats.” 

It was now Fawn’s turn to speak, but she 
looked weakly about her, and said nothing. 

Mole peacefully slept; so peacefully, 
that Grasshopper tickled his ear with a 
straw. “What’s the matter mumbled 
the sleepy Mole. 

“ I want to hop ! I want to gnaw ! 

78 



“ ‘They sent him sailing down the rolling s^eam ’ 






















WHY the KANGAROO WAS MADE 

I want to stop seeing some one else wear 
my coat for nothing,” said Grasshopper, 
Rat, and Rabbit in concert. 

“ Hop, gnaw, and stop, then,” advised 
Blind Mole, turning over. 

“ But,” objected Rat, “ this Kangaroo 
was made to do these things for us.” 

“ Offer it for sale,” proposed Mole 
and straightway he fell asleep. 

Rabbit feebly moved to the spot where 
Kangaroo was browsing, and rapped him 
with a hind paw. “He is still suffi- 
ciently hollow to float,” he announced. 
“ Doubtless he could sail.” 

“ Hurrah ! ” breathed Rat and Grass- 
hopper with all the voice left them. 

Fawn remained silent, but the other 
three were equal to the occasion. For, 
leading Kangaroo to the river bank from 
which he was made, they sent him sailing 
down the rolling stream, and for all the 

8i 


6 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


animals knew of him after that, he may 
have sailed to Australia. 

Rabbit, Rat, and Grasshopper returned 
to Fawn and told her the whole affair. 

Thereupon she fell to browsing in the 
hottest part of the day, and Rat gnawed, 
and Rabbit burrowed, while Grasshopper 
hopped as he had never hopped before ; 
and these things they did till they fell 
asleep from weariness. 

As for Blind Mole, he had slept long 
enough, so he awoke and fell to moling. 



82 


7he DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE 
DOG and the BRAVE BEETLE 














The DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE 
DOG and the BRAVE BEETLE 


“ Do not search the world for the best people, but see 
the best in the people about you" 



REAM EYE, the Prairie 
Dog, sat beneath a sage- 
brush staring at nothing. 

It was the last day of 
school for him. He knew 
how to burrow, to flip 
brush, quiver and bark, to disappear presto 
in hole, and to keep out of the way of 
Owls and Rattlesnakes. 

Now, while every other young Dog 
looked as spirited as a prairie-poppy when 
the wind blows, and while every other 

8s 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 



“ Dreameye sat beneath a sage-brush ” 

young Dog was playing with every other 
young Dog, Dreameye sat quite alone. 

After a time he stopped dreaming and 
staring at nothing, and began to watch 
the rest of the Dogs play. 

“Silly things,” said he aloud. No 
one made any comment. Indeed there 
86 



DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 


was no one near enough to hear him 
but Sageone the Beetle, who was saying 
to himself in a dull, singsong voice : 

“ If you cannot find what you want, 
you must become what you want to find ; 
then some one else will find what you 
want, which is the next best thing to 
finding it yourself” 

Dreameye gave no heed to the Beetle. 
“ I should really like to find a suitable 
companion,” he said. 

“ Here I am ! I ’ll be a companion ! ” 
said the Beetle, dropping squarely on the 
top of Dreameye’s head. 

Dreameye regarded him no more than 
if he had not been. 

“ I ’ve tried every single Dog in the 
whole town,” he said. 

“ I should think you might have,” 
murmured the Beetle. 

“ They ’re not worth a mouldy nut,” 

87 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


went on Dreameye. “ There ’s something 
queer or horrid about every one of them.” 

The Beetle gasped — he was a good- 
tempered Beetle — 

“Wha — ” he began, then shut his 
mouth with a snap and held on with all 
his might, for Dreameye jumped high 
in the air, came plump to the ground, 
and broke into a dead run, crying, “ I ’ll 
try some other folk.” 

Over sage-brush and cacti, over lizards 
and centipedes they went, till they arrived 
at Deepwallow Place, where grew the 
greenest grass for fifty miles around, and 
where there was a circular Buffalo wallow 
filled with cool water. 

At the edge of this place Dreameye 
stopped. The fact was he had to stop 
or go back, because hundreds and hun- 
dreds of Buffaloes were everywhere but 
behind him. 


88 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

The body of Sageone was dull with 
weariness. “ But when once I Ve taken 
hold of a thing I stick to it,” he said, in 
a voice between a shriek and a squeal. 

Dreameye looked at the Buffaloes. 
Then he hopped over to the biggest 
Buffalo of all. “ I am searching for a 
suitable companion,” said he. 

“ Better choose some one your own 
size,” laughed the Buffalo. 

“It’s the inside I’m thinking about; 
one can’t judge of that by the outside,” 
said Dreameye. 

The Buffalo raised his head; Dream- 
eye thought him about to reply — instead 
of that he gave a great snort of steam and 
fire, uttering the cry, “ Wolves ! O ye 
defenders of the weak. Wolves!” 

At that, every other big, strong Buffalo 
raised his head, snorted steam and fire, 
and then pushed all the old Buffaloes, 
89 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

weak Buffaloes, young Buffaloes, small 
Buffaloes, lost-horned Buffaloes, and cow- 
ard Buffaloes into a space about the size 
of a troll’s ring. 

Somehow or other Dreameye was in it, 
and to avoid being trampled to death, 
he jumped upon an old Buffalo’s head 
and sat between his horns. 

As for Sageone the Beetle, being 
brave by nature, he was now in a 
position where fear was impossible. Said 
he, “ So long as I can see what ’s to be 
afraid of I know there ’s nothing to 
be afraid of ; but if I can’t see what ’s 
to be afraid of I ’m apt to be afraid, 
because I don’t know what the thing 
I ’m afraid of is.” 

At that moment six hundred Wolves 
galloped up. 

The Buffaloes were ready for them 5 
the old ones, the weak ones, the young 
90 



<^The buffalo raised his head'* 









DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

ones, the small ones, the lost-horned 
ones, the coward ones, Dreameye and 
Sageone, were quite surrounded by the 
great, strong, fearless Buffaloes ; their 
sharp horns made a hedge against the 
wicked Wolves ; their fiery eyes chal- 
lenged them to come on ; and from their 
nostrils, steam and fire went forth at such 
a rate that the coats of the WoRes were 
singed and their skins parboiled. 

Dreameye saw it all, so did the Beetle. 

“ These Buffalo people are the kind 
of folk I like to know,” said Dreameye. 

Sageone the Beetle cried, “ Hurrah ! ” 
but no one seemed to hear him, his voice 
was so weak. 

“ Hurrah ! ” he cried again, and one 
coward Buffalo did hear him and take 
a little courage. 

“ More shall hear,” said the brave 
Beetle. “ I, too, will help the protectors. 
93 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

I will speak truth. I am not afraid. 
Hurrah! I will not white-lie, I am not 
afraid ! Hurrah ! I will not retreat an 
inch, and I will be heard ! I am not 
afraid ! Hurrah ! ” 

Such an effort did he make that he 
was heard. The old ones, the weak 
ones, young ones, small ones, lost-horned 
ones, coward ones, and Dreameye, in 
spite of themselves, cried, “ Hurrah ! 
We are not afraid ! ” 

At that signal, the defenders lowered 
their horns, charged the six hundred 
Wolves, and drove them off with their 
tails between their legs. 

Before the cloud of dust caused by 
the battle had settled, the whole herd 
was grazing away on the greenest grass 
for fifty miles around. 

Dreameye was preparing to descend 
to earth when the leader, that biggest 
94 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

and strongest of Buffaloes, stepped on 
one end of a hoop-weed, — straightway 
the other end sprang up and struck 
him. 

Without waiting to see what had made 
the stroke, he gave a jump that pushed 
over several of his companions, and shook 
his great head and ran so fiercely that 
all the others shook their heads and ran 
after him. 

Dreameye and Sageone, who had not 
left the back of the old Buffalo, were 
likewise in the stampede. 

When the biggest and strongest of 
Buffaloes finally halted, and so gave the 
herd a chance to halt, they were in such 
a sandy country that Dreameye searched 
for twenty minutes after leaving the old 
Buffalo’s back before he could find a 
spear of grass. Not a drop of water 
was to be seen. 


95 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“ Here we are miles and miles from 
the greenest grass, for what reason no- 
body knows. It ’s plain these Buffalo 
people are stupid — therefore, I’m off,” 
said Dreameye, beginning to run. 

The Buffaloes were soon dots on the 
horizon to the fleeing pair ; and they 
were but five minutes from the Rocky 
Mountains, when such a frightful whizz- 
ing was heard that Dreameye gave an 
unusual leap to the top of a high mound 
to avoid running into a big Rattlesnake. 

The big Rattlesnake, at once perceiv- 
ing Dreameye and even little Sageone, 
began to form with its body the letters 
R. S. V. P. 

“Woe! Woe!” cried the Beetle. 
“ Dreameye will not heed, and the Snake 
will write but three times.” 

Feeling by chance very good natured, 
the Snake wrote slowly. 

96 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

As he was commencing the third time, 
Dreameye said, “ What are you writing 
there ? ” 

“Ahai, ahai me!” groaned the Beetle; 
“who ever addressed a great one so be- 
fore ? ” and he cried with a voice which 
by practice was growing louder and 
louder : 

“ Sir Lordship, your Snakeship, deign 
to inform us lowly ones, what in thy 
wisdom thou writest ? ” 

“ Rattle Snake Very Poisonous,” said 
the good-natured reptile. “ I always do 
it before I speak poison — and when I ’m 
good natured I do it three times,” and 
that time he wrote the whole sentence 
with great flourishes, dotting the i and 
crossing both t’s with the tip of his tail. 

Dreameye had learned how to get out 
of the way of Rattlesnakes, and had it 
not been for his curiosity, he would have 

7 97 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

done so before, but this was the first 
good-natured Snake he had seen. 

Said he, “ If he feels for me suffi- 
ciently to warn me, perchance I may 
persuade him to let me alone.” 

“Nothing can prevent my speaking,” 
said the Snake, beginning to write the 
word “ poisonous.” 

Dreameye then gathered himself into 
a ball and waited. The great Snake 
having carefully ended his last sentence 
with a neat period, made his whole body 
into a coil and threw himself at the place 
where Dreameye had been, for, as the 
Snake went up, Dreameye leaped over 
his head and beyond him plump to the 
ground, and ran for the Rocky Mountains. 

Sageone managed to turn his head and 
this is the strange sight he saw : 

The Snake in casting himself upwards 
was so surprised by the unexpected dis- 
98 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

appearance of Dreameye that he wabbled 
sidewise and stuck in the crotch of a 
dead tree. There he was still sticking 
when last seen by the good and brave 
Beetle, who said, “ I hope it is n’t a sin 
to wish that he may stick there forever.” 

Dreameye thought to himself that the 
Snake would have made a poorer com- 
panion than the Buffaloes. “It was 
bound to be a short acquaintance what- 
ever I did,” he said aloud. 

“Those who associate with Snakes 
have to be Snakes or else wear armor,” 
commented the Beetle. “ That ’s how 
Turtles came to be, and the question is, 
is it worth while to be a Turtle or a 
Snake for such privileges } ” 

At that moment Dreameye ran bang 
into the Rocky Mountains. Straightway 
he began to climb one of them, and he 
climbed and climbed amid old gray crags 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

and over dry beds of moss, where his 
little feet made a great rustling in the 
breathless silence of the mighty peak. 

Half-way up the mountain they came 
upon two kids, who stood one on either 
side of a vine. 

With a joyful bleat the kids saluted 
Dreameye and Sageone the Beetle, and 
pointing to the vine said, “We both saw 
it at the same time. Therefore, by Goat- 
Law, we can’t eat unless it is divided 
exactly. Again, by Goat-Law, we can’t 
give up till the matter is settled fairly, 
and we don’t agree as to measurements.” 

“ Give it to the Dog,” said Sageone. 

The Goats danced for joy. “ We are 
free ! It is settled ! ” they cried, placing 
the vine before Dreameye. 

“ I like you,” said Dreameye. “ If 
you can’t play fairly, you won’t play. 
Will you be my companions } ” 

lOO 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 

“ That depends,” replied the Kids, 
“Are your ancestors in the Zodiac? ” 

“No,” said Dreameye. “I think,” 
he added, with some hesitation, “most 
of them are in Snakes and Owls, and 
perhaps there are a few in Wolves and 
Foxes.” 

“None of those,” replied the Kids, 
“ are in our circle, and so companionship 
with us is impossible ; ” and they walked 
away. 

The vine was tough, and Dreameye, 
when he had finished it, lay down to 
rest. 

As he rested, recalling the day’s adven- 
tures, he thought about the chivalrous 
but too stupid Buffaloes, the honorable but 
too cruel Snake, the generous but too 
proud Goats. 

Sageone guessed what he was thinking 
about, therefore he said : 

lOI 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“ If you cannot find what you want, 
you must become what you want to find ; 
then some one else will find what you 
want, which is the next thing to finding 
it yourself.” 

Dreameye leaped up and for the first 
time addressed the Beetle : “ O Beetle, 

learned and true,” said he, “ the meaning 
of what you say is clear. Have I not 
found three things to copy to-day } 
Shall I not find three thousand such 
things in the Home Dogs? and with the 
things not worth copying I must not 
concern myself” 

The good Beetle was so rejoiced that 
he dropped to the ground and merrily 
performed a greel, the only dance Beetles 
can learn. 

When the greel was ended, the Beetle 
again took his seat on the head of his 
friend, crying, “If you run as you 
102 


DISCONTENTED PRAIRIE DOG 


never ran before, we may get home 
before sunset.” 

Thereupon Dreameye ran as he had 
never run before, and they did get home 
before sunset, and were friends ever 
after. 



103 




















AI and the THREE ARMADILLOS 





















AIW/,6^ THREE ARMADILLOS 

“ Do not force another to do things you want 
him to do, till you find out what 
he himself wants to do" 

ENEATH a rubber tree quite 
stripped of leaves, a Three- 
toed Sloth lay on his back 
kicking feebly. Near him 
stood three sleepy young Ar- 
madillos trying to rub open 
their eyes. 

“ It isn’t time to wake,” said One Eye, 
so called because he had but one eye. 

“ It must be, or we should n’t have 
been called upon,” said One Ear, so 
called because he had but one ear. 

107 



WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“Who called upon us?” said No 
Tail, so called because he had no 
tail. 

“ Ai ! ai ! ai ! ” moaned the struggling 
Three-toed Sloth. 

“Who’s that?” fearfully questioned 
the three Armadillos. 

“ Ai ! ai ! ai ! ” repeated Sloth. 

By this time the Armadillos were wide 
enough awake to see him. 

“ Did you dare to call upon us before 
sunset?” asked No Tail walking over 
to him. 

“ Ai ! ai ! ai ! ” cried Sloth. 

“Yes, you, you, you,” replied No 
Tail; “now stop crying and answer 
sensibly.” 

“I never called upon any one; the 
leaves were gone, so I had to drop.” 

“ Drop what ? ” asked One Ear. 

“ Myself,” answered Sloth. 

io8 


AI and the THREE ARMADILLOS 

“ Can you not set me on my feet and 
lead me to a tree that has leaves ? ” 

“ Do you mean to say that you live 
in trees as monkeys do ? ” asked No 
Tail scornfully. 

“Yes,” said Sloth. “I pray you turn 
me over, for my back is being cruelly 
scratched.” 

“ That ’s because you live in trees,” 
said No Tail, ignoring Sloth’s request. 
“ Now what ’s your name } ” 

“ Turn me over,” groaned Sloth. 

“Turnmeover! a most disagreeable 
name ! ” commented No Tail. “ No 
music in it. How old are you ” 

“ Oh, oh, oh,” sighed Sloth, “ this is 
too bad ! ” 

“ Two bad years old,” said No Tail. 
“ What have you studied } ” 

“ Ai ! ai ! ai ! ” lamented poor Sloth. 

“ Disgusting ! ” snapped No Tail, 
109 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“he’s studied himself only! the uninter- 
esting beast ! ” 

Here Sloth succeeded in turning over, 
and began to hook himself clumsily along 
on his three-toed feet. 

The three Armadillos looked at one 
another. 

“ Shall we take him } ” asked One 
Eye. 

“ He won’t pay,” objected One Ear. 

“We might make him an example of 
what we can do. Then we shall get pay 
pupils,” suggested No Tail. 

“ That ’s so,” agreed One Ear and 
One Eye. “We’ll take him.” 

Poor Sloth with painful labor, which 
caused him sadly to cry, had reached the 
foot of a leafy tree and was preparing to 
climb when No Tail laid a paw on his 
shoulder. 

“ We ’ll take you,” said he. 

no 


AI and the THREE ARMADILLOS 



“ So they carried him ” 


“Too late;” replied Sloth, “I’ve 
taken myself.” 

“You don’t knowhow to take your- 
self,” said No Tail. “We’ve had the 
luck to overtake you just in time, and, 
I trust, it ’s just in time we undertake 
you, but first we must take you under.” 

Ill 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

Thereupon No Tail seized Sloth’s 
hind legs, One Eye his forelegs, while 
One Ear supported his head. So they 
carried him till they came to a sign-board 
with the hand pointing down. 

On the sign-board were these words : 

PRIVATE SCHOOL 

Open Evenings 

CLASSES IN ROOTING, BURROWING, AND BALLING 

The hand pointed to a small opening 
in the ground, toward which the three 
Armadillos made with their burden. 

“ Put his head in first,” commanded 
No Tail. 

One Ear crammed Sloth’s round, furry 
head into the opening. 

“ Now, in with his shoulders ! ” said 
No Tail to One Eye; so One Ear and 
One Eye pushed, and shoved, and 

II2 


M and the THREE ARMADILLOS 

grunted, but Sloth’s shoulders would not 
go through. Finally they had to pull him 
quite out, for they dared not leave him, 
to fetch help, since, with the hand pointing 
at him, he was a disgrace to the school. 

“You sit on his chest,” said No Tail 
to One Eye, “ while I talk reason into 
him. We’ll have to begin his lessons in 
the open air.” 

So One Eye sat upon Sloth’s chest, 
while No Tail thrust his left paw into the 
breastplates of his armor and began : 

“Do you agree to be taught.^ Say 
yes, or you ’ll have to be sat on hard.” 

“ Yes,” gasped poor Sloth. 

“Sit easy then,” said No Tail to One 
Eye, so One Eye sat easy. 

“ We pity your condition in life,” went 
on No Tail. “ By the way, what is your 
condition ? ” 

“ My what.^ ” said Sloth. 

« 113 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


“Your condition. Why you ’re so 
badly ofF.” 

“ Because I came to the last tree on my 
line, and ’twas no use to go back, since 
I ’d eaten all the leaves of those trees, 
and there were no others near, so I 
dropped; and I ’d just hooked myself to 
a tree with both leaves and flowers, and 
in one moment I ’d have been all right, 
if—” 

“Sit hard! ” cried No Tail. 

So One Eye sat the breath out of Sloth 
and stopped his explanation. 

“ If — ” said No Tail scornfully. “ Yes, 
if you learn what we teach you, you ’ll 
be all right. You’ll be what an animal 
ought to be. You ’ll be something worth 
while. In short, you ’ll be like us.” 

“The sun has set,” cried One Ear. 
“Now for object lessons! You take him 
first. One Eye.” 













So One Eye sat the breath out of Sloth and stopped his explanati 


















AI and the THREE ARMADILLOS 

So One Eye arose from Sloth’s chest 
and said, “You promised to be taught.” 

“Yes,” agreed Sloth. 

“We will begin with rooting,” said One 
Eye. “ I suppose you ’re hungry.” 

“ I should think so ! ” cried Sloth, turn- 
ing over with a great effort. 

“ Then do as I do,” commanded One 
Eye, scratching up a root three yards long 
in the twinkling of his one eye. 

“I cannot see what you do, it’s so 
dark,” objected Sloth, who had day eyes. 

The night-eyed Armadillos thought, or 
pretended to think, it was because he didn’t 
trouble himself to look. 

“ I never knew what it really meant to 
see till I lost my left eye,” said One 
Eye. “Perhaps if we give you the right 
kind of a chance you’ll learn,” and he 
seized the root and wound it round and 
round poor Sloth’s head, over his left eye ; 

117 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

but it made no difference, he couldn’t 
root. 

One Eye said he would n’t, and chal- 
lenged One Ear to teach him. 



■“‘Z suppose you' d like to have a homei said One Ear 


“I suppose you’d like to have a home,” 
said One Ear. 

Sloth wept joyfully at the word. 

“Such a home as this,” added One 
Ear pointing to the school burrow. 

ii8 


Al and t^e THREE ARMADILLOS 

“Alas, no!” murmured Sloth. 

“You said you’d be taught,” said One 
Ear. 

“Yes,” agreed truthful Sloth. 

“Then do as I do,” said One Ear, 
making the earth fly up till the newly 
risen moon was hidden, and when One 
Ear spoke again his voice seemed to come 
from the centre of the earth. 

Soon he came forth from his burrow 
and said, “You heard where my voice 
came from; now burrow yourself in as 
deep as that.” 

Burrow! Sloth could as easily have 
jumped out of his skin. 

“ He does n’t listen to instructions,” 
cried One Ear in a rage, on seeing that 
Sloth made no attempt to burrow. 

“You never knew the value of hearing 
till you lost your left ear,” suggested One 
Eye. 

119 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 

“That’s true,” said One Ear, and he 
made a neat grass ball and stuffed it into 
Sloth’s left ear. 

Still Sloth couldn’t burrow. One Ear 
said he wouldn’t, and challenged No Tail 
to teach him to ball. 

“He has no tail, so I shall have no 
trouble; for it’s easy as easy can be 
to ball when you ’ve no tail,” and No 
Tail balled himself till he looked like a 
Christmas pudding. 

Then he unballed himself and told 
Sloth to do the same thing. 

But Sloth’s efforts were so ridiculous 
that No Tail, thinking he was purposely 
mocking, was actually rude enough to 
stick a claw into him, at which poor 
Sloth uttered so loud and piteous a cry 
that the Tapir, who was Superintendent 
of Schools, came galloping down to the 
Evening School and said, “ What ’s here.^ ” 
120 


A1 and the THREE ARMADILLOS 

“A disgrace,” replied the Armadillos, 
all speaking together. 

“ Pupil’s disgrace or teacher’s disgrace.^ ” 

“Pupil’s disgrace!” hissed the three. 

“Let ’s hear about it,” said the Tapir. 

“ He won’t be taught,” replied the 
three. 

“Who is he.^” asked the Tapir. 

“ Turnmeover.” 

“What did he do before he came to 
this School.^” 

“ Hn ” said the Armadillos. 

The Tapir repeated his question, sur- 
prised from his snout to the tip of his tail 
to hear teachers say, “Hn.” 

“He did tell us something about his 
condition,” said No Tail, “but we don’t 
remember what it was. It is n’t necessary 
to think of what he has been.” 

“ That is a worse saying than ‘ hn,’ ” said 
the Tapir, who was the biggest Tapir in 

I2I 


WANDERFOLK in WONDERLAND 


the woods, and Superintendent of every 
School in them. 

Then he examined Sloth himself. 

“You wretched teachers,” he said when 
he had finished, “why do you try to teach 
rooting, burrowing, and balling to an ani- 
mal whose special business in life is to 
run upside down along the branches of 
trees To eat leaves, and so to let light 
into the forests.^ What use are rooting, 
burrowing, and balling to a tree beast } 
Idiots!” 

The Armadillos hung their heads. 

“I suppose you’d be very well satis- 
fied to have the whole forest peopled with 
rooting, burrowing, balling, one-eyed, one- 
eared, no-tailed Armadillos } ” continued 
the Tapir. 

The moon was now shining as bright 
as day. By its light the Tapir tore the 
bandage from Sloth’s eye, pulled the grass 
122 


AI and the THREE ARMADILLOS 

from his ear, smoothed his fur, and lifted 
him into the nearest leafy tree. 

Then he turned once more to the 
Armadillos, but they were gone. They 
had had enough teaching for one night. 



1^3 





























